A Different 'Truth'
by Rumour of an Alchemist
Summary: One-shot. Near drabble. Albus Dumbledore gives Harry a different explanation from canon of why Professor Snape 'hates' Harry in the infirmary at the end of the 'Philosopher's Stone' school year. Rating K


Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: The following short sketch is set in a universe which has gone similar to the canon one up until Harry Potter opens his eyes in the Hogwarts infirmary towards the end of the 1991-1992 school year (that of the 'Philosopher's Stone') to find Albus Dumbledore there. At that point, the conversation goes slightly differently from canon, concluding with Albus Dumbledore telling Harry a different reason from canon as to why Professor Snape hates him.

There are three very short scenes:

The first scene is set in the infirmary, when Harry is recovering after he prevented the Philosopher's Stone from being stolen by Quirinus Quirrell and Voldemort, and consists of the tail-end of Harry's conversation with Albus Dumbledore – as it has gone in this universe.

The second and third scenes take place on the morning that the school year is over, and feature a visit to the dungeons by Harry (where I assume Professor Snape to have his office) and then a short scene on board the Hogwarts Express.

This piece is rated 'K+' and is a one-shot.

* * *

 _Hogwarts' Infirmary_

The headmaster hesitated, and then sighed.

"Professor Snape hates you because you remind him of his past failures, and he has been busy trying to protect you this year because the guilt of those failures has been haunting him for more than a decade. Guilt is a truly terrible thing, Harry, and Professor Snape has a lot to feel guilty about. He picked the wrong side in the last war, initially, and whilst he was serving it faithfully he passed on information which helped to put your parents in moderately more danger than they were already. He feels in part responsible for their demise, although the truth of the matter is that many other people played much more significant parts, including, ultimately, friends your parents believed to be on _our_ side but who in fact betrayed them – and of course Voldemort himself who lifted his wand and spoke the killing curses."

Harry waited for the headmaster to say some more, but apparently he had decided that he had said enough.

"But…" Harry began.

"Ah-ah." the headmaster wagged a finger, his eyes twinkling. "I agreed to _one_ more question, Mr. Potter, and I have answered it as far as I intend to do at this present time. Do we understand one another?"

"Yes sir." Harry said, regretfully.

* * *

 _Hogwarts' Dungeons_

Harry gathered his courage and knocked on the door.

There was a moment or two where he wondered whether Snape was in, and then just as he was starting to doubt it, and in a mixture of relief and disappointment preparing to walk away, the door was suddenly jerked open, and the potions master stood there. The scowl on the potions master's face deepened as he saw who it was before him.

"What is it, Potter?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry about the house-cup sir." Harry said. "I just wanted to say that it wasn't fair, Gryffindor winning it like that. That and," he hesitated since the situation seemed to call for something more, "Hermione and I thought that the thing with the potions and the poem was really good."

"Life is seldom fair." the professor said. He peered at Harry seeming to be trying to gauge the depth of his sincerity. "Nevertheless, I thank you for the thought." He examined Harry for a few more moments, curiosity on his face, and then the scowl was back. "Your _mother_ , Mr. Potter, was tolerably good at potions."

And then a whirl of a cloak, and a slam of the door later, and Professor Snape had vanished back into the depths of his office, leaving Harry staring blankly at the ancient wood.

It took him several more moments to realise that he was apparently dismissed, and then several more to realise that Professor Snape had said something which apparently made no sense at all.

* * *

 _Onboard the Hogwarts Express_

"What did he mean 'Your mother was good at potions'?" Ron Weasley asked on the Express on the way back south, several hours later, once Harry had reported the final encounter with Snape to Hermione and Ron.

"I don't know." Harry said. "Should that make _me_ good at it or something?"

"Maybe Professor Snape thinks you could do better if you studied really hard and tried." Hermione said. She wrinkled her nose. "You know, I don't think anyone would find out if you tried to practise your potion-making back at home. I think the Ministry can track things like wands and spells, but I don't think they can track potion-brewing."

"Hey! You could even tell your relatives that one of your professors ordered you to practise!" Ron beamed suddenly. "That ought to really wind them up."

* * *

Author Notes:

And that is sadly where the inspiration for this piece ran out.

Obviously in this universe, as in canon, Albus Dumbledore is still hiding a lot from – if not outright lying to – Harry about why Professor Snape has apparently spent the school year 'hating' Harry (and yet still went out of his way to save Harry, during the quidditch match). It's prompted Harry to think and feel about Professor Snape (at least up to the end of the school year) slightly differently from before, though.

In the second scene, Professor Snape's comment to Harry about Harry's mother is (coming from him) Professor Snape's version of an olive branch. After being surprised by an apparently genuinely penitent Harry Potter showing up outside his door, Professor Snape responds by saying something _nice_ (by Professor Snape standards), about someone close to Harry. (Professor Snape still finds it far too difficult to bring himself to say anything nice, to Harry, about Harry, mind you, at this point.)

The third scene shows a snippet of Harry discussing his brief encounter with Professor Snape, onboard the Hogwarts Express. (Harry didn't report Professor Snape's exact words to Ron and Hermione, discarding the 'tolerably' from Professor Snape's remark about Harry's mother as he couldn't remember the exact turn of phrase.) One possible continuation of this piece might see Harry following Ron's suggestion about potion brewing over the summer (and Aunt Petunia's reaction to Harry telling her that 'Professor Snape' has ordered him to practise potions during the holidays might be something to truly behold!)

However, at the times of these notes, I have no idea how this piece could/would develop in the long-run (beyond that a somewhat different from canon dynamic between Professor Snape and Harry Potter might end up developing in later years) and so this piece is very much likely to remain a one-shot for the foreseeable future.


End file.
